Arifureta, on the surface level, is just another isekai, harem, with an overpowered main character. But this show does a lot to mix things up and distract you from that fact. Like starting the show off with the main character, Hajime, suffering alone in a ditch instead of a basic transportation scene we’ve seen all too many times. Or Having Hajime date one of the girls in his harem instead of remaining neutral towards all of them. And it is little things like that that really add to this show.
However, this show might have a lot of little tricks up its sleeve to make things watchable, but it still does a lot of things wrong. The characters are quite flat. I do give the show a lot of credit for giving even the most secondary of characters a lot of screen time. But it doesn’t really matter all too much since the stuff they are showing us is quite flat. The enter cast can be summed up in relatively simple terms. While they do do a lot to move the plot along, they’re overall stage presents remains lackluster, if that makes any sense.
The story is pretty dope, and probs the best aspect of the show. It is all about Hajime wanted to leave this other world and return home to Japan. This is something I always want to see from an Isekai, characters wanting to go home. How so many protagonists are so quick to hope on a new world hype train, it makes it so seeing a character with a natural reaction, the need to be amongst the familiar, is quite refreshing. And this simple motivation carries Hajime’s side of the story to great effect.
Overall, this is an isekai that has a tone of mixups and a really solid structure that makes it a must watch for the purpose of learning from it (at the very least watch the first five episodes (first arc)). The show from an objective standpoint isn’t very good. The animation alone could tell you that. Regardless, I’d still give this show a watch.
